NPR: Survey: Half Of Food Workers Go To Work Sick Because They Have To

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Flu season is here. And when the flu strikes, the luckier victims may call in sick without getting punished or losing pay.

But many American workers, including those who handle our food, aren't so fortunate.

Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday.An additional 38 percent said they go to work sick "sometimes."

That's a practice that can have serious public health consequences. For instance, as The Salt reported last year, the vast majority of reported cases of norovirus — the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks and illnesses across the country — have been linked to infected food industry workers.

But it's not as if these sick food workers are careless. Nine out of 10 workers polled in the new survey said they feel responsible for the safety and well-being of their customers. Yet about 45 percent said they go to work sick because they "can't afford to lose pay." And about 46 percent said they do it because they "don't want to let co-workers down."

The study was commissioned by Alchemy, a firm that works with companies across the food chain to improve safety and productivity. Alchemy CEO Jeff Eastman tells The Salt that the survey was designed to help his firm learn more about the experience of food workers. Alchemy asked the Center for Research and Public Policy, a consulting firm, to conduct the research with more than 1,200 food workers in the U.S. and Canadain July.

Though some people might be tempted to point a finger at the workers for going to work sick, the reality of their situation helps explain why they do it, says Jose Oliva, co-director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. "A lot of these workers actually depend on every single one of the days that they work for money," Oliva says. "So if you don't go to work, you don't get paid."

Indeed, a 2012 studyfrom Oliva's Food Chain Workers Alliance and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found that 79 percent of food system workers did not have paid sick days or did not know whether they did. Similar to the current study, the 2012 report also found that 53 percent of workers had worked when they were sick.